The Land Before Time: Ali's Return
by Vitani825
Summary: This is a retelling of the TV series episode where Ali returns to the Great Valley. Rhett's personality has been slightly altered to fit the story; but he's still slightly bossy and arrogant like he was in the TV episode The Brave Longneck Scheme.


**Disclaimer: I don't own The Land Before Time characters.**

 **A/N: This is a one-shot. Since Ali's appearance in the TV series was disappointing, I decided to fix it so her personality is back the way it was when she got over her fear of other species.**

Note: I was unsatisfied with how Ali was portrayed in her only appearance in the TV series; this is my take on Ali's reappearance and Rhett's debut. Instead of Rhett being a compulsive liar, he is more friendly towards the other kids and Ali is the way she was in her appearance in LBT4. I know in the TV series that Ali is purple; but, I decided to make her appear as how she looked like in Journey Through the Mists.

Littlefoot and Cera got the surprise of their lives when they saw a familiar hard while wandering around the valley.

"Littlefoot, do you see what I see?" Cera asked.

Littlefoot got a better look at the young longneck up ahead.

"Yes I do, Cera; it's Ali! I missed her so much; I still feel like I owe her for helping us save my grandpa's life when we brought back the Night Flower," Littlefoot exclaimed.

Cera nodded.

Soon enough, both of them ran over to greet their old friend.

"Ali!" both of them exclaimed in unison.

The pink longneck looked behind and saw Littlefoot and Cera coming up.

"Littlefoot, Cera! It's so good to see you again," Ali responded.

"We feel the same way, Ali," Cera stated.

Ali couldn't help but smile.

"I made a new friend since we left the Great Valley, want to meet him?" Ali asked.

"Sure; any friend of yours is a friend of mine," Littlefoot commented.

"Rhett; come on over here; I have some friends who want to meet you," Ali called out.

Soon another young longneck came into view. He appeared to be a bit shy since he wasn't expecting a longneck to be friends with a threehorn.

"Uh...hi," Rhett said.

"Hi Rhett, I'm Littlefoot and this is Cera; don't worry, she's pretty friendly as long as you stay on her good side and never bad mouth her family, especially her dad," Littlefoot explained.

"Nice to meet you; but I think she's more than capable of introducing herself, you know," Rhett replied.

Cera chuckled.

"No, no, that's all right," Cera assured him.

Rhett was glad to meet other kids outside of his herd.

"We have more friends for you to meet; that is, if you want to," Littlefoot said.

"Sure; the more the merrier," Rhett said.

"*Or as Ducky would put it, the more the betterer*" Cera thought to herself.

Soon enough, the four kids wandered over to the watering place where Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Ruby and Chomper were relaxing. Ducky soon noticed a familiar face, and a longneck she has never met.

"Hey guys; guess who came back," Littlefoot said.

"Ali! It is you," Ducky exclaimed.

"Yes it is, Ducky; Rhett; this is Ducky, over there is Spike, her brother and Petrie; I don't know who the fast runner is or the sharptooth is," Ali explained.

"Oh, pardon my rudeness; I'm Chomper and this is Ruby; you must be Ali and this longneck must be Rhett," Chomper replied.

Ali smiled and nodded.

"By the way, Ducky; how is Spike your brother?" Rhett wondered.

"Me and my family adopted-ed him; his real parents must have died in the Great Earthshake a long time ago; I could not leave him out there all alone or he could have died, too; after all, I hatched him and instantly became his older sister; family is not just blood relatives, you know, it is others who care about you," Ducky explained.

"Wow, you guys must have had it hard out there without any adult supervision and only surviving on instinct and possibly the leadership skills of Littlefoot," Ali stated.

"Yep; our journey to the Great Valley wasn't easy; and especially with the death of my mother; that's why I live with my grandparents and why they can be overprotective," Littlefoot added.

Rhett was impressed; all his life, he was protected by an entire herd of longnecks and not gaining any survivor skills that he could use for when he becomes a leader.

"Anyway, now that you're here, how about we go swimming," Littlefoot suggested.

"Actually, how about we play Rescue first; it's my favorite game; only, it would be more fun if there are seven more players," Rhett claimed.

The other nodded.

"Okay, Rhett; uh, how do you play?" Chomper asked.

"One of us plays the part of sharptooth and chases the others while a hero comes in and saves them; and since I suggested the game, you're the sharptooth," Rhett said.

"Of course I'm a sharptooth, wise guy...wait a second! Why am I always IT? Can't someone else be IT for once? Just because I'm a sharptooth, doesn't mean I have to do the chasing," Chomper snarled.

Soon enough, Petrie had something to say.

"He do have a point; how about me play part of sharptooth," Petrie suggested.

"Okay, fine fly boy-"

"Me name Petrie, Mr. Bossy," Petrie squawked while flapping his wings in annoyance.

Just when the kids were about to have fun, they were interrupted by Ali's herd.

"Oh, there you are; I see you have made some friends," Old One stated.

"Yes we did," Ali said.

Since the Old One wasn't formally introduced to Littlefoot's friends, Littlefoot introduced them to her.

"In all my years; I never known a longneck to be friends with other species, and especially a talking sharptooth; it's nice to see that you're including Ali and Rhett into your group," Old One commented.

"It's only while you're here, right? We're always happy to have her and Rhett join us in our games any time you bring your herd to the Great Valley," Littlefoot claimed.

Old One smiled.

"Well; I best be off; have fun children," Old One said as she led the herd away.

"Bye!" the children exclaimed in unison.

After a few rounds of Rescue, the children then decided to take a swim in the watering hole. Ducky was swimming towards the deep part of the water while the others were splashing around closer to the shallow end.

"This is so much fun! Me and Ali never have much fun since we're always on the go; sure, we take rest breaks at different valleys; but, I really love it here; I can't wait until I'm a grown up and can leave the herd," Rhett explained.

"Me neither; I'm sick of the migrating life; there's something about being a kid that I never liked; always having to go along with what everyone else was doing like I can't think for myself; but, at least I'll have something to look forward to, becoming a grown up so I can do what I want and not have any grown ups tell me what I can and can't do," Ali responded.

"You said it, Ali! Being a kid isn't all that bad; but, it's still nice to think about what life would be like if I was a grown up; as far as migrating goes, I wouldn't like it either; since I'm used to living here after the journey through the Mysterious Beyond," Littlefoot assured her.

Ali smiled.

She and Rhett were now convinced that being kids also had an upside to it; not having any responsibilites such as leading a herd. However, there are days when they feel like the grown ups treat them like hatchlings and not letting them do more things for themselves.

"There are times when we like to have more personal time; it could be something as simple as relieving ourselves when no one else is watching; we don't need an escort," Rhett stated.

"Or someone to give us a tongue bath...blech!" Ali stated, hanging her tongue out in disgust.

Littlefoot chuckled.

Later in the day, all the children along with Ali's herd and the Great Valley herd gathered around by the Thundering Falls. Rhett was introuced to the herd and got reacquainted with Ali. Grandma and Grandpa Longneck lowered their heads to Ali.

"It's wonderful to see you again, dear; and it's nice to meet you, Rhett," Grandma commented.

"Nice to meet you as well; Littlefoot and his friends are very nice; even Chomper; I never thought a sharptooth could learn to talk; the only sharpteeth I ever saw were mean and they didn't speak leaf eater," Rhett explained.

Grandma nodded.

"Just know that you and Ali will always have friends here in the Great Valley," Grandma said.

Rhett and Ali smiled.

"That's right! Best friends forever; although, I can't wait to grow up and choose to stay here if we happen to stop by again," Ali exclaimed.

Soon enough, Ali's mother lowered her head.

"You and Rhett have plenty of time to get older; enjoy your childhood while you can since it doesn't last forever; one day, you'll be old enough to make your own choices; but, for now, your place is with the herd; I promise we'll come visit our friends in the Great Valley once in a while," Cleo claimed.

"Okay, Mother," Ali said while Rhett nodded in agreement.

After a few days of rest in the Great Valley, Ali, Rhett and their herd set off on their migration once again. She and Rhett knew that one day when they're grown ups, they would return to the Great Valley to stay. But, that's another story.


End file.
